1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a bicycle seat which comfortably supports a bicycle rider.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bicycle seat must support the rider comfortably for rides of long duration and aid the rider in controlling and stabilizing the bicycle. It is well known to bicycle riders that the conventional saddle can cause chafing, blistering, bruising, and possibly injury to the rider. A primary cause of discomfort is the pressure exerted on sensitive areas of the body (i.e. the sacral, coccal, ischial, and perineal/genital regions) when the weight of the rider rests on a traditional bicycle seat.
Recent studies have linked perineal pressure caused by traditional bicycle seats to urinary tract and yeast infections. Sitting on traditional bicycle seats can compress tender genital tissues against the seat causing irritation to the genitals.
In both male and female riders the crotch area contains nerves and pudendal arteries leading to the genitals. In the male, the pudendal artery carries blood flow that enables erection. Sitting on a traditional bicycle seat can increase the pressure in the pudendal arteries causing a decrease in blood flow for both men and women. This decrease in blood flow may cause numbness potentially leading to impotency in certain male bicycle riders. (Numbness is caused by compression of the pudendal nerve. However, compression of the artery is not something a rider feels.
In order to overcome these problems, the prior art provides seats with a groove at the nose portion of the bicycle seat, which results in a right side nose portion separated by a gap from the left side nose portion (split nose). The opening is intended to reduce the pressure but does not always work, and sometimes creates even more pressure exerted on the genital area by the rider's weight on the seat.
An improved split-nose bicycle seat contoured to fully support the coccyx, sacrum, and ischium bones, while providing a relieved area for the perineum/genital regions, was disclosed by the present inventor in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/685,311, filed Jan. 11, 2010, incorporated herein by reference. This prior design provides support for the tissues and musculature surrounding the aforementioned pelvic areas.
However, there is still need for a seat which helps the rider to assume several differing positions on the seat while avoiding undesirable pressure on the rider's perineum. Primarily female riders, but some male riders too, have reported small areas of tenderness, contusions and abrasions to the perineal space of their bodies.